Georgia is a state in the Southeastern United States.
It is bordered to the south by Florida, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean and South Carolina, to the west by Alabama, and to the north by Tennessee and North Carolina.
As of 1 January 2018, the population of Georgia was estimated to be 3,910,437. It is the 8th most populous state in the United States.
Georgia is the 24th largest state in the United States in terms of total area with 153,909 square kilometers (59,425 square miles).
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city of Georgia. The city was founded as a transportation hub at the intersection of two railroad lines in 1837. Atlanta has topographic features that include rolling hills and dense tree coverage, earning it the nickname of “the city in a forest.”
Georgia has 500 cities in 159 counties with 13 congressional districts.
The main geographical features include mountains such as the Ridge-and-valley Appalachians in the northwest, the Blue Ridge Mountains in the northeast, the marshes of the Atlantic coast on the southeast to the Okefenokee Swamp on the south.
Georgia’s highest point is Brasstown Bald at 1,458 meters (4,784 feet) above sea level. Located in northeast Georgia, the mountain is known to the native Cherokee people as Enotah.
Georgia is drained by numerous rivers. Major ones include the Chattachoochee, Flint, Ocmulgee and Savannah.
The coastline of Georgia is approximately 160 kilometers (100 miles) long.
The Golden Isles of Georgia lie off the coast of the state.
Georgia has 12 national park and 63 state parks.
National parks in Georgia include battlefields, military cemeteries and historic homes.
Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park is a 11.8-square kilometer (2,965-acre) National Battlefield that preserves a Civil War battleground of the Atlanta Campaign. The name “Kennesaw” derives from the Cherokee Indian “Gah-nee-sah” meaning “cemetery” or burial ground.
The Savannah Historic District encompasses about a 2.5 square kilometers (1 square mile), preserving the old city much as it appeared at the time of the Civil War. Its lovely shaded squares surrounded by gracious mansions, and its stone-paved streets lined by trees draped in feathery Spanish moss create one of the most romantic urban scenes of any city in the world. More than historic scenery, the Historic District is alive with art, culture, museums, and mansions to tour.
The Georgia Aquarium is one of world’s largest aquariums, with permanent exhibits, interactive galleries & animals galore. It houses more than a hundred thousand animals and represents several thousand species, all of which reside in 38 million liters (10 million US gallons) of marine and salt water. The Aquarium’s notable specimens include whale sharks, beluga whales, sea lions, bottlenose dolphins, and manta rays.
Rock City is a roadside attraction on Lookout Mountain. It is well known for the many barn advertisements throughout the Southeast and Midwest United States that have the slogan “See Rock City” painted on roofs and sides. Clark Byers painted over 900 barn roofs in nineteen states to advertise for Rock City from 1935 to 1969.
Stone Mountain is a quartz monzonite dome monadnock and the site of Stone Mountain Park near Stone Mountain, Georgia. At its summit, the elevation is 514 meters (1,686 feet) above sea level and 251 meters (825 feet) above the surrounding area. Stone Mountain is well known for not only its geology, but also the enormous rock relief on its north face, the largest bas-relief in the world. The carving depicts three Confederate figures: Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson.
The Atlanta Botanical Garden is a 12 hectares (30 acres) botanical garden located adjacent to Piedmont Park in Midtown Atlanta. Incorporated in 1976, the garden’s mission is to “develop and maintain plant collections for the purposes of display, education, conservation, research and enjoyment.”
The World of Coca-Cola is a museum, located in Atlanta, showcasing the history of The Coca-Cola Company. The 81,000-square-meter (20-acre) complex opened to the public on May 24, 2007, relocating from and replacing the original exhibit, which was founded in 1990 in Underground Atlanta.
The Varsity is a restaurant chain, iconic in the modern culture of Atlanta, Georgia. The main branch of the chain is the largest drive-in fast food restaurant in the world; it can accommodate 600 cars and over 800 people inside.
The history of Georgia in the United States of America spans pre-Columbian time to the present-day U.S. state of Georgia.
The area was inhabited by Native American tribes for thousands of years.
A modest Spanish presence was established in the late 1500s, mostly centered on Catholic mission work.
The youngest of the 13 former English colonies, Georgia was founded in 1732, at which time its boundaries were even larger — including much of the present-day states of Alabama and Mississippi.
The name “Georgia”, after Britain’s King George II, dates from the creation of this colony.
Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788.
Georgia declared its secession from the Union on January 19, 1861, and was one of the original seven Confederate states. It was the last state to be restored to the Union, on July 15, 1870.
During the broad-based activism of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and 1960s, Georgia was the base for African-American leader Martin Luther King, Jr.
Georgia was the only colony to prohibit slavery from its inception.
The state has had 5 capitals: Savannah (1777-1785); Augusta (1786-1789); Louisville (1789-1807); Milledgeville (1807-1867); Atlanta (1868-present).
Originally intended as a patent medicine, Coca-Cola was invented in 1886 by Atlanta pharmacist John Pemberton.
Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) is the busiest passenger airport in the world.
Georgia has seven official natural wonders: Amicalola Falls, the Okefenokee Swamp, Providence Canyon, Radium Springs, Stone Mountain, Tallulah Gorge and Warm Springs.
Georgia is known as ‘The Peach State’ because of the growers’ reputation for producing the highest quality fruit. Other nicknames for Georgia are “The Goober State” (goobers are an old word for peanuts, which are the official state crop of Georgia), and “The Empire State of the South.”
The famous “Tree that Owns Itself” is a white oak located in Athens, Georgia. Its owner loved it so dearly that upon his death he granted it its autonomy. The original tree, thought to have started life between the mid-16th and late 18th century, fell in 1942, but a new tree was grown from one of its acorns, and planted in the same location. The current tree is sometimes referred to as the “Son of The Tree That Owns Itself.”
Known as the sweetest onion in the world, the Vidalia onion can only be grown in the fields around Vidalia and Glennville.
In Gainesville, known as the Chicken Capital of the World, it is illegal to eat chicken with a fork. The ordinance was passed in 1961 and there’s even a statue in the middle of the town with a chicken watching over passers-by.
Cordele claims to be the Watermelon Capital of the world.
The Cherokee rose is the official state flower, the live oak the official tree; and the brown thrasher the official bird.